Articles

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YouTube, iPhone Apps, Kindle and the Utility Franchise

By Mark Gabriel, Senior Vice President, R.W.Beck, an SAIC Company, February, 04, 2010 - The explosion in consumer technologies and options, coupled with the utility industry's expansion into the smart grid, advanced meters and communications will do what all of the failed attempts at deregulation could not: create true customer choice. more...
Article Viewed 1878 Times | 5 Comments

Critical Infrastructure Determines Long-Term Strategy, Part II

By Raj Vaswani, Chief Technology Officer, Silver Springs Networks, September, 01, 2009 - The first part of this two-part article discussed network infrastructure and implementing the right network. more...
Article Viewed 2057 Times | Be the first to comment on this article.

Providing Cyber Security: Industry Steps Up

By David Batz, Cyber Security Risk Manager, Alliant Energy, August, 18, 2009 - Today's natural gas transmission and distribution systems depend on computer technology and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to operate safely and efficiently. In the United States alone, there are nearly 300,000 miles of transmission pipe and 1.2 million miles of distribution mains, 814,000 miles of service lines and about 65 million services. more...
Article Viewed 2139 Times | 2 Comments

Critical Infrastructure Determines Long-Term Strategy, Part I

By Eric Dresselhuys, VP, Markets & Business Development, Silver Spring Networks, August, 04, 2009 - The first part of this two-part article will discuss network infrastructure and implementing the right network. more...
Article Viewed 2166 Times | Be the first to comment on this article.

EMP: A Poorly Understood Threat

By Alan Roth, Chief Risk Officer and Vice President, Advanced Fusion Systems LLC, July, 21, 2009 - Grid security managers are experiencing growing concern over cyber security while another serious threat, electromagnetic pulse (EMP), has received very little attention. An electromagnetic pulse attack can have a devastating impact on the grid, rendering it useless perhaps for many years. While it is generally considered a low frequency/high consequence threat, recent developments regarding both human-caused EMP and the likelihood of geomagnetic storms significantly increase the chances of a major hit. Protective activity needs to be jump-started if appropriate measures are to be in place before it's too late. more...
Article Viewed 3763 Times | 8 Comments

Strategies for Success in Enterprise Architecture

By Paul Kurchina, Director, KurMeta, July, 07, 2009 - As utilities plan a smart grid vision, a key strategy is how to manage the information flow between devices and enterprise systems. It's about advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). It's about real-time. It's about the spatial context of data. more...
Article Viewed 2410 Times | 1 Comments

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A Proactive Approach to Detecting Energy Theft, Now

By Michael Madrazo, Founder and President, Detectent, June, 16, 2009 - Automatic Meter Infrastructure (AMI) promises to assist utilities in the identification of energy theft cases when it is deployed in the coming years. In fact, most AMI business cases take advantage of this potential by including an operational efficiency that reduces "Unaccounted for Energy (UFE)" which is a pleasant description of energy theft. Specifically this means that AMI will help identify situations where energy is used but not paid for. The percentage of overall operational efficiencies attributed to UFE is in the range of zero to 20 percent, with most being in the 8 to 10 percent range. more...
Article Viewed 2806 Times | 1 Comments

The Critical Role of Enterprise GIS in Smart Grid Technology

By Bill Meehan, Director, Utility Solutions, ESRI, June, 02, 2009 - GIS is widely recognized for its strong role in managing traditional electric power transmission and distribution and telecommunications networks. GIS will likewise play a strong role in managing the smart grid. For utilities, GIS already provides the most comprehensive inventory of the electric distribution network components and their spatial locations. With the smart grid's sophisticated communication network superimposed on the electric network, data management with GIS becomes utterly critical. more...
Article Viewed 2686 Times | Be the first to comment on this article.

Building the Smart Grid: Proven Methods to Secure the Future

By Joshua Pennell, President and Founder, IOActive, May, 19, 2009 - The push for greener, more efficient energy distribution is driving the rapid development and deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technology, or smart meters. Smart meters are considered to be just one technology platform within an overall suite of maturing smart grid energy management technologies. These technologies will foster the modernization of the nation's electrical power infrastructure into what will ultimately become the cornerstone for the power grid of tomorrow. In conjunction with the approved $4.5 billion economic stimulus package, the need to create U.S. jobs and a rapidly evolving market space, this long-awaited advancement to the U.S. power infrastructure has become a reality today. But is the technology ready? more...
Article Viewed 6518 Times | 5 Comments

Computer Security Experts: the Grid's Communications Infrastructure is Not Yet Invulnerable

By Kate Rowland, Managing Editor, Intelligent Utility Magazine, Energy Central, May, 05, 2009 - On May 1, the communications, technology, and the Internet subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on cyber security, looking specifically at communication networks, power grids, and governmental information systems. And, while this type of industry discussion is usually held within the aegis of "grid security", some of the concerns raised to government in this hearing call for debate and discussion in the communications infrastructure realm, as well. more...
Article Viewed 2898 Times | 2 Comments

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